Improvement in hemp breakers and cleaners



O. B. BUTLER. HEMP BREAKER Patented Jam-6,1844.

, UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE- o. B. BUTLER, OFLINCOLN ooon'rv, TENNESSEE.

IMPROVEMENT, m HEMP BREAKERS AND CLEANERS.

Specification form'in g ast of Letters Patent No. 3,402, dated January 6, 1844.

.To allwhom it may concern;

Be it known'that I, CONSTANT B. BUTLER, of the county of Lincoln and State of Tennescombined, showing the operation of Fig. 9 as see, have invented a new and useful Machine for Breaking and Cleaning Hemp andFlax, and I do declare that the following is a full and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making apart of this specification, in which-.-

r 1 Figure l is a perspective view.

The machine consists of two parts-to wit, the cleaning and breaking parts.

First. Breaking part: Fig. 4 represents a side and perpendicular view of the movable breakers or sash: I I are two breakers or blades insertedinto uprights b b at the distance of six inches, one above the other; black line I, a cross-beam, to which pitman i is attached. Fig. 7 is a side and perpendicular view of the fixed breakers, there being four in numher; 0 'O, the upper set, inserted into fenderposts K K, the horizontal distance'from each The lower set is similar to the upper, and is fixed three inches other being three inches.

from the upper.

Fig. 2 is a side and perpendicular View of Figs. 4' and 7 combined, showing the operation of Fig. 4. as it works in Fig. 7 The movable breakersII pass one and one-half inch above and belowthestationarybreakers. Thehemp or flax, when placed on the lower set of stationary breakers, receives a downward stroke from the upper movable breaker I, and an upward. strokefrom the lower movable breaker I, the whole being connected with shaft 9 by means of pitman i."

' Fig. 6 is an end view-of Fig. 2; K K, fenderposts; G s, ends of stationary breakers inserted in them; I I, themovable blades, with the sash up; Fig. 5, same as Fig. 6, butshowing the position of the blades at the time the downward stroke is given. V

' Fig. 8 represents thestationary breakers of the cleaning part, there being two sets, as C C, each set having three breakers three inches apart. The sets are also three inches from each other, and inserted into fender-posts.

K K, Fig. 9, represent the movable blades that work in Fig. 8, there being'two sets, each set having two blades three inches apart horizontally. The sets are also three inches from each other, Fig. 9. When placed-within Fig.-

part; c, the mouth or hoppe 8 between K K, an open'space is made atO to, receivethe lint- Fig, 10 gives an end view of Figs. 8 and 9 Fig. 11 gives a similar and corresponding view with Fig. 10 with the upward stroke.

In Figs. 10 and 11, K s show the fender-posts, and the cleaning part operates in the samemanner as the breaking part.

In Fig. l thatportionof the operative part of the maohinewhich is attached to the" left- .hand end of the shank g by means of the pit- -man t. represents the breaking part, and that which works at the opposite end the cleaning r,- through which the hemp or flax is admitted. The other letters in the operative parts of. the perspective correspond with those in the constituent parts. The frame should be adjusted to the operative parts of the machine, as represented in the drawings, Its usual dimensions are five feet long, three and one-half feet wide, and four and onerhalf feet high. The machine is propelled by the master-wheel 11, working on a pulley or wallower on the balance-wheel shaft, as shown by reference to Fig. 1. The shaft and crank are so arranged that giving a stroke of twelve inches the breaker ascends, while the. cleaner descends. One revolution of the wallower gives two strokes with the breakers, and. two with the cleaner.- The hemp or flax is ap plied tothe breaking part with the hand giving it a slight pressure, and is received by a second person on the opposite side, .wh'en it is fully prepared for the cleaning process; The

machine makes two hundred and twenty strokes per minute, and by the double motion of the cleaning and breaking parts it makes four hundred and forty strokes per minute, which is one of the advantages of the upward and downward strokes.

For cleaning and breaking flax, the dimen-. sions of the machine should be considerably lessened, and the swords placed closer-to each other. v

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The construction of' the brake by which the hemp and flax is acted upon in the upward'as well as downward stroke, thus acting which I-desire to secure.

on the opposite sides of the hemp -that is to scribed my name and afiixed my seal, in the say, the combination of the upper and lower presence, of witnesses, this 3d day of J unc, permanent breakers or rests with the upper or 1843.

lowenblades attached to the movable sash, C. B; BUTLER. [L. 8.]

this being the principle of the invention, and Witnesses:

MARTIN W. OAKLEY,

In testimony whereaf I have hereunto sub- JOHN ELLIOTT. 

